OT - PARANOIA or Mark of the Beast? - OT

A Company Press Release tells of a new version of a digital implant device to be used to identify and locate individuals and other items. One specific use would be in e-commerce. Could this be a discriminator? If you don't get the implant, you can't order from whomever...

Remember the CIA definition of Paranoia: An adult response to reality!

Answers

Cute name isn't it "Digital Angel." Not scared, just awake and aware
and waiting to see how everything plays out. I do feel sorry for
those that would be scared because they don't know where they stand,
maybe this will help to wake some of them up, but I don't really have
a lot of hope in that regard.

The "no-problem" crowd will embrace this. We will be the "nut
case", "Bunker people" and "doom and gloomers" for not accepting
this. It has already started, persecution of the Christians!! Jesus
said this very thing.

The "no problem" crowd doesn't necessarily mean the same crowd of
y2k. It doesn't take a whole lot of wisdom to see the same
mentality carried out with the MOTB (Mark of the Beast). The media
will probably classify you as a doom and gloomer, bunker mentality,
crackpot, if you refuse to accept this. You will be classified as an
outcast. Then, you will be killed if you don't accept it. Read your
Bible. But ahhh of course, interpretations... A nice weapon which the
Antichrist will use (theory only on this part). But we're sooo used
to hearing it. My conclusion: If you want to accept this, fine. I
won't.

This isn't to suggest that this IS the MOTB, but we know it
will be something like it.

What is the tragedy of not having a credit card? Our own greed is
going to be our downfall.

Men once trapped monkeys by putting rice inside a coconut shell or
some other container with a hole just large enough to admit the empty
hand of the monkey. The monkey would reach in and grab a handful of
food. When it couldn't withdraw its hand, it would not drop the goodie
in order to gain freedom.

How many people today are willing to drop the goodie (401K,
credit card, giant-screen TV, SUV, etc.) in order to live free? So
often on this board someone writes in a near panic: "How can I keep
all my [goodies] safe through the rollover?"

Survival is taken for granted; but please, sir, can I hang on to my
stuff?

Anyone driven by greed can never live free and is an easy target for a
scam.

Sorry, I don't usually vent; but I'm getting tired of the whining.
8^(

Y2K....World financial ruin......Monies of the world useless....need
new sytem.....need to start over.........need new and improved
monetary system...........someone send us an
Angel.......................

If this product can make it to market and into application, it will
be appalling. If we arrive at a point where commerce cannot be
conducted, or employment secured, unless an individual agrees to
undergo an invasive procedure, then we have lost not only our rights,
but our minds, hearts and souls.

The company, ADS, that has purchased the rights to develop this
abomination of technology should be flooded with cries of outrage. I
am not a Christian fundamentalist, but, in a country that is
predominately Judeo Christian, this technology is deeply threatening
and offensive to those beliefs. A corporation so obviously unaware
and insensitive to those issues deserves the full impact of public
opinion and business failure. Beyond the religious implications, the
potential abuse of civil liberties, and the threat to rights of
privacy should be more than sufficient to raise a hue and cry.

Goes to show how jaded you are. DID I SAY THERE WAS A TRAGEDY BY NOT
HAVING CREDIT CARDS??? And why are you attacking ME?

And by the way, the little remark about credit cards was qualified by
the little prefix I put in, "regarding discrimination"... this means
what is so different about being discriminated against by having a
computer chip in your body as to having credit cards?

I personally don't have any credit cards, and have very
little "stuff" that I can't do without. And can you guess... I don't
even have to attend some church to feel good about living a simple
life... amazing!! I can actually THINK FOR MYSELF!

So zip it, little sufferer of the Doomsday meme. Your ignorance is
showing when you reamrk about me with a prejudiced mind.

I once found a Web site offering $250 to anyone who would have the
chip inserted. It came with a "reader" that plugged into one's
computer, the idea being that the chip could be read and debited or
credited simply by laying one's hand on the reader. I didn't keep the
URL, but I wonder if it is the same company!

I remember the $250 website thing a few months ago, but it turned out
to be a hoax. That was my first thought when I read this article,
too...it must be a joke! But, it looks legitimate this time.
Unbelievable.

The chip is real and for sale. I saw it displayed at a trade show in
Chicago this year (Scantech 99). It's a small glass pellet that
encapsulates an IC chip and a transponder coil. The chip is
read/write capable with an RF sensor. Marketed by the company as "bio-
compatable." Definitely not a hoax.

Saw the first commercial on TV concerning these devices. Guy is in a
store shoving merchandise into his coat. Looks like he's
shoplifting. He walks out of the store and an "invisible" light beam
scans his body. A security guard walks up to him and says "Wait,
sir." As the guy turns around (the idea is uh-oh, he's busted) the
guard says "you forgot your receipt." The guy takes his receipt,
smirks, and walks away. The apparent message is that these implanted
chips (or smart cards, or transponders) are great conveniences and
"cool."

RUOK makes a compelling point - this shouldn't be a religious issue
though it is understandably one for those of us who are Christians.
But (big question) do we have a common language for describing WHY
such a device is invasive and "wrong" if we don't bring in religious
language? Why isn't it just, "hey, if you don't want it, fine. Oh, by
the way, so happens you can't shop without it, but that's your prob."

If the "free market" "persuades" consumers that this is "cool", then
what?

I know lots of people who would see nothing wrong with it and might
even see it as a great answer to lost and stolen credit cards.

It will track me wherever I go? [Smirk!] I hope they enjoy the
scenery!

It has my medical records? Cool! I might have a heart attack and it
could call it in in time for me to get help.

It will have my work history? Ummm, well, I am not sure how I feel
about that. . . I mean, well. . . But if it does more good in other
areas, Okay!

Only the crooks have to worry, and that is good! Why would you want
so much privacy unless you were up to no good?

Sorry, sir, we don't accept cash. So few people use it any more and
one never knows what kind of germs may be on it. You really need to
go down and get a chip; if it is good enough for our young people in
uniform, surely it is good enough for you.

Bigdog
I see the same secular (non-religious) argument against bio-chips as
I do against "cookies" and credit cards.

They are an invasion of privacy. You can't control who reads them
(cookies) or what they do with the data. But they are so pervasive in
our economy, just try going without them. Yes, you can refuse cookies
(at least in AOL), but it an incredible nuisance. I tried it for a
while, but gave up. Ever try renting a car without a card? You can't
and they don't take cash.

Everyone wants to track you and your buying patterns. Yesterday, I
went to get a haircut. First thing, the lady asks me for my phone
number, punches it in her computer and says "OK, Mr. Roadkill, we can
take you now." Try being a totally anonymous consumer for a month in
our economy. It is an eye-opener!!!!

I see a day when bio-chips will be required "for your protection".
Cash won't be prohibited, but made undesirable. Giving a clerk cash
in the not-so-distant future will be looked upon like paying with
gold coins are today.

There is only ONE verse in the whole Bible that was written to have
meaning to the early church, those whom the Book was written
to.......the whole Book of Revelation was written about things that
would SOON come to pass, and was written figuratively.......

Seems too many of you have a really distorted image of God......one
minute you call him a loving father and the next minute you accuse
him of only giving an EXTREMELY vague confusing warning about
something supposedly so crucial!!

I feel sorry for those of you still caught up in the Gospel of Fear
that is a major distortion, a combination of twisted scripture,
paganism and Dante's imagination.........

Very, very interesting comments here, been lurking over the past few
days and this post is one I feel I must comment on. I've recognized
this type of technology was going to be available, caught me a little
by surprise it has evolved into a marketable product this soon
though, who would have thunk, eh? Back to my thoughts about this.

When I was growing up, I had the pleasure of spending a great deal of
time with my grandmother on my Dad's side. She passed away when I
was only 20 years old at the age of 89, some 25 years ago. Being of
the generation she was raised in, she had many gems of wisdom to pass
on to me. Fortunately, I was a very receptive to her wealth of
knowledge. I still miss her.

Not being the most religious person myself (I do believe I will have
to answer for my actions in the next life to a Supreme Being of some
form, keeps me on the straight and narrow, he, he,) her strong belief
in her faith was something I always accepted as a normal way of life.

When she eventual reached the last evening on this world, I had the
good fortune to say goodbye. Her last request of me, (No, it wasn't
a dying wish) was to ask me to refrain from ever getting a tatoo.
Seemed like an easy one to me, only Sailors, outlaw bikers, prison
folk and circus people had tatoo's, so I said "sure Gramma, I
promise!" Needless to say, I never realized how pressured I'd be to
get one over the next four years in the Navy, or how popular they
seem to be as "cool" with todays youth. Her whole worry was I would
be "marked with the beast" aka "666" that was so important in her
religion.

My thought was could this be an extension of that, could the implant
that could track our every move, every purchase, and generally a way
to keep track of all citizens who want to participate in so called
"normal society" not be an unbelievable infringement on what we call
freedom. Our habits are being tracked by an uncountable number of
corporations and organizations already, from internet cookies, to
credit/cash card purchases, to forms and info we fill out all the
time. This should be obvious from all the junk mail we receive in
both paper and electronic form.

I would think this would be the ultimate way for us all to be tracked
on everything we do, would that not, in someway, make big business
and government (Obviously, the beast) be their mark? Random
thoughts, I guess, but as I read these posts, Gramma came to mind,
coinsidence, I think not.

On the positive side, there are a number of people who would chip in
to buy one for our fearless president...

Many of us would prefer to NOT be monitored, and prefer to make legal
transactions without excessive documentation/tracking! If for no other
reason, we may be engaged in "trade secret" activities...with exact
tracking of places and products purchased, those trade secrets could
be reverse engineered.

And no, you don't have to be paranoid to not want CNN to put a camera
in your bedroom...

There are already a number of people who have received exactly this
device. A search of the Net "mark of the beast" will turn up over
1000 sites. I have written a book on this topic and have done a
considerable amount of research. Those that do not believe that this
is the mark of the beast have not done the research.

Hey, when Americans face the horrible turmoils next year, they'll
become wretched and desperate for relief. When the MARK is proferred
as the ONLY WAY to gain acceptance into the new world system with its
promises of FOOD and WATER and OTHER AMENITIES, people will gladly
take the stigma. They know that if they don't, they'll continue to
suffer. Do you think they want to suffer? Nope. They'll choose the
mark of the beast.

Gypsy, and others who may not see the problem with being monitored,
and think, as Gypsy does, that "if you're not a crook, what's the
prob?".

I am up past my bedtime, so this will have to be a fairly condensed
version of all the scary possibilities I can envision, but, just for
starters, think about this:

You get your electronic salary cut off for a month. Or your travel
"permission". Or lose some other "reward". All because you expressed
your views about something that "the government" or whoever is in
control of these electronic systems, doesn't want to hear your views
about. For instance, maybe you don't like it that your taxes have just
been increased. Or the local Planning Office has just told you that
the five acre parcel of land you've owned for the last ten years,
which you want to build your dream house on, now that you've retired,
is now a "non buildable lot" because it is "deer winter range" or in a
"Coho Salmon Watershed" or whatever. Believe me, this type of thing is
already happening, but "the powers that be" cannot as yet cut off our
ability to purchase groceries, or drive our cars, or take the bus, or
anything else we now take for granted.

I've been expecting something like this since I saw my first upc
scanner, many years ago.

And while those of you who have been hanging around here for the last
year or two will know that I am anything but a "believer" in the "good
book", I am still kind of chagrined that all the upc's virtually all
contain 666 in the bars. It's not hard to figure out, if you look at
it, but if someone hasn't seen it, I'll tell you how to decode it.
It's not even complicated.